"I work to get them in the habit of self-assessing but they have a lot of educational history invested in external assessment. Students don't know why it's good or they think it's only good if the teacher says it's good. It's hard to break that mindset . . . I think students can self-assess and should self-assess." --Peter Knowles
Monitoring Progress with Questions, Comments,
Concerns
In a continuum from monitoring progress to evaluating final work,
Peter gives responsibility to students. They frequently fill out a progress
check sheet that he calls QCC's for Questions, Comments, and Concerns.
These are short half-page forms that students complete as an "exit interview"
in response to a question related to progress for the day or a current
task. He poses a question and students write an informal response.
These responses give him useful information about the problems that students are facing, from group dynamics to technical difficulties. Sometimes when Peter needs to gauge how well students grasped something newly introduced, the prompt question is content or skill related. He uses the response to determine what students really absorbed or how well he communicated something. The QCC sheet does not get a grade but is saved in the portfolio of materials collected with an extended project.
Scoring Student Work
Peter
uses a complex scoring guide template that allows teachers, students,
parents, and others to evaluate and score work on the same sheet. Students
use the scoring guide to self-assess completed, final work before handing
it in. Peter uses the same scoring guide in his assessment. He finds that
much of the time he and the students agree fairly well.
"This scoring guide is something new to me . . . being so explicit. Hopefully this is going to help us get in synch . . . so we all agree, this is a five, this is an eight." --Peter Knowles
The advantage of his detailed criteria is in discussing discrepancies with students or parents; everyone has the criteria clearly defined. Sometimes he will see a pattern in the scores that calls attention to something he hasn't explained or defined well.
"When I see that everyone has blown their data tables and I gave them 5's but they scored themselves in the 9-10's, I know that there is a problem in my instruction." --Peter Knowles
Work
Students contribute to designing scoring guides for final products and presentations. Early in the project, Peter defines the elements to assess and assigned the criteria for quality levels. As the project progresse, he gives the students an opportunity to contribute to defining criteria and quality values for the group presentation scoring guide, creating greater ownership and buy-in for the assessment.
Student Work
As with any classroom, there is a range in quality of student work. In
general, Peter expected more evidence of well-reasoned decisions in students'
final recommendations than he received. Peter acknowledges that their
initial attention in the Global Challenge was influenced by transitions
to a new school, a new school year, and a new way of learning. He accepts
that their first job is on learning new processes and meeting procedural
requirements. They need to develop skills and behaviors for showing learning,
first. Peter reports that this changed as students moved through the subsequent
Global Challenges.
Group One: The three boys and one girl in this group had their
share of group dynamics to resolve. In Peter's words, "They were
probably the most contentious group." Students in the group had
different levels of attention to detail. Two students were confident and
knew what to do but neither was accustomed to sharing the load. One student
felt excluded and didn't like being told what to do and often worked separately.
The interdependence required to complete Phase III brought the group together.
In the end, Peter thought their analysis was sound and the presentation
effective. The student work below shows one group member's country profiles
for Phase I and II and the proposal and presentation slide show prepared
as a group.
Group Two: This group, also composed of three boys and one girl, worked fairly compatibly and productively throughout the project. Peter thought their interactions were thoughtful and that they produced good work, although he didn't think the country they chose was one of the better locations for MOI. A county profile by one of the group members is shown along with the group proposal and presentation slide show.
Group Three: This group changed in composition over the project due to the arrival of a new student. By the close of the project it was a group of five, composed of three boys and two girls. This group functioned well but like others in the class, developed an interest in one aspect of country information that got in the way of making a well-reasoned recommendation. One of the students in this group was particularly fascinated by natural disaster frequency data. It dominated his analysis and influenced the final recommendation determined by majority vote. The dissenting students prepared a "second-opinion" recommendation and were given time to explain their choice during the group presentation.
Multiple
Assessments
"...I learned to work independently but also with
a group at the same time." --Avery
In addition to the country profiles and presentation performance assessments, Peter uses traditional paper mid-term and final exams.
At the completion of each Global Challenge, students write reflective essay responses to several questions that range from group work contributions to things learned. These reflections are not scored but are given points for thoroughness.
